[? mod.L., a. Gr. λεξικόν (sc. βιβλίον), neut. sing. of λεξικός of or for words, f. λέξι-ς diction, word, phrase, f. λεγ- to speak.] A word-book or dictionary; chiefly applied to a dictionary of Greek, Hebrew, Syriac or Arabic.
The restricted use is due to the fact that until recently dictionaries of these particular languages were usually in Latin, and in mod.L. lexicon, not dictionarius, has been the word generally used.
1603. Sir C. Heydon, Jud. Astrol., ii. 44. Any other translation or Lexicon.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, ¶¶ 1 b. He doth not neglect the profit of Lexicons (wherein all sayings and speeches are numbred).
1616. Bullokar, Lexicon. A Greek Dictionarie for words.
1641. Milton, Prel. Episc., 6. [They] must make a new Lexicon to name themselves by. Ibid. (1645), Tetrach., Wks. 1851, IV. 238. They who are so exact for the letter, shall be dealt with by the Lexicon, and the Etymologicon too if they please.
a. 1682. Sir T. Browne, Tracts, 85. Lexicons and Dictionaries by Zizania do almost generally understand Lolium.
1702. S. Sewall, Diary, 30 Jan. (1879), II. 52. Upon enquiry about a Hebrew word, I found he had no Lexicon.
1791. Boswell, Johnson (1848), 69/1. He thought it right in a lexicon of our language to collect many words which had fallen into disuse.
1807. Med. & Phys. Jrnl., XVII. 49. Let Mr. D. go to his Lexicon for the word urethra.
1817. Byron, Beppo, lii. And take for rhyme, to hook my rambling verse on, The first that Walker’s Lexicon unravels.
1847. Liddell & Scott (title), A Greek English Lexicon.
b. fig. (a) The vocabulary proper to some department of knowledge or sphere of activity. (b) A list of words or names.
1647. Cowley, Mistress, Discretion, 66. This barbarous Term you will not meet In all Love’s Lexicon. Ibid. (1656), Pindar. Odes, to Dr. Scarborough, iii. The vast and barbarous Lexicon Of Mans Infirmitie.
1654. R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 419. Fate, or Fortune, (in the Profane Lexicon, and in the Christians undiscovered Providence).
1724. Swift, Use Irish Manuf., Wks. 1755, V. II. 3. All silks, velvets, callicoes, and the whole lexicon of female fopperies.
1751. Earl Orrery, Remarks Swift (1752), 25. Such, who, in the Lexicon of Party, may be found ranged under that title [Whig].
1823. Byron, Juan, VIII. xvii. Fifty thousand heroes, name by name … Would form a lengthy lexicon of glory.
1839. Lytton, Richelieu, II. ii. 362. In the lexicon of youth … there is no such word As—fail!
c. attrib. and Comb.
1826. Syd. Smith, Wks., 1859, II. 100/1. The boy who is lexicon-struck in early youth looks upon all books afterwards with horror.
1848. Clough, Bothie, IX. 120. Leaving vocabular ghosts undisturbed in their lexicon limbo.
Hence Lexiconist, a compiler of a lexicon.
1828–32. Webster cites Orient. Col.
